CAN Pakistan do it? Nobody expects them to. India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav, or SKY for short, doesn’t even think that Pakistan deserve being called rivals.
But here they are, the “non-rivals” with a chance to upset India’s pre-scripted march to glory in the Asia Cup. T20 cricket is certainly a game of skill, but it is also a game of chance. And Pakistan, the underdogs, the non-rivals, have a chance.
The first two games in this minor trilogy of contests between the ex-rivals were one-sided and ill-tempered. It isn’t partial to say that India brought the bad vibes. Haris Rauf responded with some low insults and was rightly fined — along with Mr SKY for his comments after the group game.
It’s hard to imagine a final free of needle. That’s probably a good thing for Pakistan, who were more competitive in the Super Fours game as the political row escalated.
India’s cricketing dominance is built on their formidable batting, in particular the brilliance of Abhishek Sharma, the world’s top rated T20 batsman.
Sharma is a purist’s delight as he hits cleanly through the ball, whether playing under his eyes or away from his body. He has taken a liking to Pakistan’s opening bowlers and gave India an unstoppable momentum in the other two games.
Yet the biggest positive for Pakistan over the tournament is the re-emergence of its strike bowlers as a force to be reckoned with. Shaheen Shah Afridi, in particular, has started to remind us of the bowler that he was. Shaheen has a poor record against India, but his confidence should be high, and dismissing Sharma early can change the mental dynamic between the players.
This is added pressure for Shaheen, but it should be welcome for a player who wants to reclaim his status as one of the world’s premier fast bowlers.
There is a lot about Shaheen’s game that is encouraging. He is back to batting with aggression, a style reminiscent of the great all-rounder Wasim Akram.
More importantly, Pakistan need Shaheen to get closer to Wasim’s level as a strike bowler.
Inept top order
The second key area for Pakistan in this final will be the performance of the top order. Other than Sahibzada Farhan, Pakistan’s main hitters have been inconsistent and below par.
The top order lacks quality and is overreliant on the form of its middle and late order. It’s good that Pakistan’s all-rounders have some collective batting form, and that’s enough against lesser teams, but without something major from the top order Pakistan will find it hard to win.
All-round depth is something that Pakistan coach, Mike Hesson, seems to like. It certainly works when Saim Ayub chips in with vital wickets or Mohammad Nawaz scores late runs.
But you can’t build a consistently successful team around the quality of Pakistan’s selected all-rounders.
Pakistan might have lost to India only in this Asia Cup, but they are ranked above the other teams in this tournament. They should be winning those games.
When the World Cup comes around, five more teams ranked higher than Pakistan will also be there. None of those teams will be worried about the quality of Pakistan’s batting.
So, whatever happens today there is some serious work to be done if Pakistan are to be competitive in the T20 World Cup in February.
The extent of our T20 batting failure is confirmed by international rankings where there is no Pakistani player in the top 20. Where might Pakistan get that quality from? The obvious people to reconsider are Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan. The next place to look is among the next crop of young batsmen, and it’s a shame that the management didn’t stick with Hasan Nawaz.
Bowling shaping up well
Pakistan’s bowling is developing to be more competitive. There are four wicket takers in Shaheen, Haris, and Abrar Ahmed. Sufiyan Muqeem can’t get a game. Question marks hang over what to do with Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, and Saim Ayub.
Of these, Saim offers the most promise. His wickets are proving vital. A move down the order might work for him in the way that it has done for Mohammad Haris. The other two might make or break their futures today.
The other big question for Pakistan is around the selection of Salman Ali Agha. We don’t even need to get into his captaincy because he does not look like a T20 cricketer at international level.
Agha is a tremendous asset for Pakistan in Test cricket and 50-over cricket, but his T20 journey should end here.
A win in the Asia cup will be a tremendous boost, especially against the odds, but whatever happens today the underlying problems in Pakistan’s T20 formula must not be ignored.
Pakistan’s coach has a record of success with New Zealand and some franchise cricket, but he is still getting to grips with the bamboozling world of Pakistan’s international cricket.
He has a big job to do because the selection is wrong and the batting performances are dismal.
First things first, though, and Pakistan must show Mr Blue SKY and his Indian team what a “non-rivalry” really looks like. Salman’s team have a point to prove — and some pride to restore.
Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2025
